Ashes to Ashes
by Draconian Calocor
Summary: Princess Azula, once proud daughter of the Fire Lord himself, nothing more than a prisoner of her own mind. Locked away in the cells of the Fire Nations prison, she battles her madness and guilt. Can she be saved from herself, many beleive not, but one pink clad warrior refuses to let it happen. Can Ty Lee redeem Azula, or will Azula's madness consume them both? shoujo-ai warning
1. Chapter 1

**Sup. Draconian Calocor here, this particular story I have been working on was a simple thing that I was inspired to write by some fan art on DeviantArt. It was a picture of Ty Lee hugging Azula. My first thought was, aww now that's cute. Then I started thinking about the things that could be done with these two. So I started writing this and it kinda went from there. So enjoy children!**

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Chapter One: Alone Without You

Darkness, an ethereal blanket of black, wrapping all in its both warm and soft embrace. To the former princess of the fire nation, it was her only companion. Chained deep in the fire nation's prison psych ward it had been the constant for Azula. The solitary confinement cell had nothing in the way of light. It was a small comfort, if nothing else, to know that it wouldn't change, that it was normal. However to the woman chained in the dark, it would never be enough to simply have normal.

How long had it been since she was locked in this prison of stone and metal? There was no way of telling; time was a concept that she could no longer comprehend; there was no way to tell the passing of time. No lights were in her cell, no windows showing the outside world, the only thing that let Azula know that any time had passed was the meals that were shoved through a slot in the solid steel door.

There was not time, no freedom, no light, only the dark. Yet even though she could no longer understand time she would still wonder how much time had passed since she had been incarcerated in this place. The days had turned to week, weeks to months, and months into oblivion. Vaguely she had wondered how long it had been since she had allowed that sickness of mind to take her. How long had it been since she had fallen from on high? How long since she had let herself be… weak?

Alone with the darkness, she had let it take her; let it make her a monster, for a time anyway. The madness, it had festered in her mind since she had lost to that little weakling Zuko. With nothing but this cell and the dark, she let it take her. She had done it to forget, to escape the pain and the memories. The madness had taken it all away, the good memories, the bad ones, the painful ones, and the joyful ones. She had joyfully let it take all of them, all of them save one. That memory she clung too desperately, of a time that was not so dark. Days past, ones not filled with hard stone and endless darkness.

The smell of the sea, the feel of the sand on her bare feet, the soft cool spray of the sea, the warm breeze, the afternoon sun on her skin, warm and soft. All of it giving Azula one of the rare moments when she had felt happy and a little at peace. She had stood there taking it all in, and then she was no longer alone, but she did not mind so terribly much, as long as it was only her. That one girl, who had seen her at her best, and at her worst, who had seen through her carefully constructed defenses and cold demeanor. The one person who had been willing to look past her cruel attitude and hostile looks, she had seen the true Azula, and she had not judged but instead accepted her.

As they stood on the beach, just the two of them, she kept her eyes focused on the setting sun. Suddenly she stiffened; her hand had been enclosed by another. Despite this she forced herself to relax and did not force her hand away from the one enclosing it. They both stood there, simply enjoying the feel of the setting sun on their skin, hands entwined. Azula had felt the shorter girl lean close and whisper in her ear, the words caused the black haired woman to flush, heart fluttering slightly at the words. "I will always be there for you my princess."

The words, how she remembered the words. Even now, even in the silence and darkness of the cell, they still gave her the smallest flicker of hope. Hope that one day she would be free, free to feel the sun on her skin again and to see the moon in the sky. Free to feel the soft winds and the cool breeze, free to see… her. To feel her silky brown hair, her creamy smooth skin, and to see her eyes, the deep grey eyes.

She had lost all of it, her life, and her power, even her. For what, power to rule a nation she had told herself, to be respected and feared and worshiped. All of that would have been hers… but did she even want it? Had it ever been worth it to begin with? It was what she had been raised to expect, it was the norm for her, or at least it was. Now, now this was the norm. These lifeless stone walls, the ragged prison clothes, the darkness as her only friend, was this how she was to live out her final days? It was no less than she deserved, Azula knew she had failed, and this was the price of her failure.

'_Pathetic, simply pathetic. What a waste of life, no wonder your weakling of a brother bested you, you're nothing.'_ The voice. That damned voice. Dripping with insanity and malice, stole into her mind.

"Leave me be, you had your time, I took back what was mine from you." Azula whispered into the empty cell.

'_Ooh, I think I touched a nerve. HAHAHAHAH! Poor little princess, your crown is stolen and you're a prisoner of your own nation, the only one who ever loved you is gone, everyone thinks you're a monster, AND STILL YOU WON'T GIVE ME WHAT IS MINE!' _The voice screamed in her head.

"Every time I gave you room it showed, they call me crazy, a monster, because that's what you are, that's what you did to me and I won't go back, not to your madness." Azula muttered to herself more than the voice. Silence was the only thing that returned as the words faded, hanging in the air.

Sighing, the golden eyed prisoner lay back against the cold stone and closed her eyes. As sleep took her, she only wished that it came without the price of the nightmares. That was all she had to look forward to in this place, madness and nightmares. What a wonderful world.

"Ty Lee… why did you betray me… why did you leave me in this place?" Azula knew the answer to the question and still she did not believe it. It was not her fault, she had done as she was order, she had obeyed the fire lord and now, this was all it done for her. It was their fault entirely, those traitors, Zuko, Mai, even Ty Lee.

"They did this to me!" she hissed in to the darkness "it's their fault I'm like this!"

Anger flared in her, smoldering and dark, a familiar sensation but no comfort in this place. The cold of the cell seemed to sap her strength, leaving her tired. The anger she had briefly held soon faded as well, it took to much energy to maintain, and she simply couldn't do it right now. With a final sigh, Azula laid her head against the cold stone floor, and let sleep take her.

Her sleep however did not last long. The grinding of metal awakened Azula from her troubled dreams. Turning to the source of the noise, Azula saw that the many mechanisms locking the great metal door where coming undone. For a few moments she simply sat there uncomprehending, as the great metal door slid open. However as the light flooded in Azula covered her eyes yelling in pain; so unaccustomed to light at this point that it was painful to even see it. In a vain attempt to flee from the light she pushed herself into the corner of her cell. Her head was swimming with pain from the sudden overdose of lights, vaguely she could hear voices, but the pain made them sound like gibberish.

Suddenly rough hands seized her, eyes still screwed shut she was unable to see who or what had seized her. Never one to go down without a fight though, she kicked and struggled to free herself from her captors. A sudden stinging pain in her neck ceased her struggles as her entire body began to go numb. Her mind began to suffer similar effects as it went fuzzy then began to fade into blackness.

The last thing that she heard before slipping into unconsciousness was the voice of the madness, insulting her one final time before the black overwhelmed her.

'_Heh, so very, very weak.'_

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**So that about it for right now. If you enjoyed leave a comment, or if you feel you see something that is off review please. Your input is appreciated and enjoy, I hopefully will have more up soon. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back all of you wonderful people who for some reason or another found this. Chapter Two for all of you, I didn't really think I would make a second chapter this quickly but the sheer number of people who read this in one bloody day! Sheesh. Anyway I was inspired to make a second one MUCH sooner than I planned, so here you are you wonderful people! Enjoy.**

Chapter Two: Weight of Pain

Soft, that was the only thing that could describe this sensation, soft. Not hard like the cell, not cold like the dark, and not foul like the madness. Simply soft, that's all it was. Azula's slowly awakening mind could not understand this feeling, for it had been so long since she had experienced it. For a moment the ragged woman simply let herself simply be enveloped by the sensation. It was nice, nice to be able to enjoy such a small thing like this for however briefly she had it.

As her eyes opened she winced slightly, the room was very dark but the few dim lights that scattered the small room were still much more than she was accustomed to. After a few minutes of struggling to keep her eyes open, they had finally adjusted enough to the point where she could see. Raising her head she saw that she was on a small bed and the room itself had the look of simplicity and sparseness.

Dark red sheets adorned the bed; the dark wood walls were sparsely decorated with only a simple fire nation flag on one to show the room was even inhabited. The lights had all been dimmed, presumably so she wouldn't be blinded the minute she opened her eyes, and the door was nothing more than a sliding paper screen. What Azula could not understand however, was why she was here to begin with. She had no qualms with leaving the cold stone of the cell far behind but, why? Why was she suddenly, after however long she had been there suddenly moved to, in her opinion, a much more lavish cell? Indeed she didn't even know if she was currently a prisoner or not.

No chains bound her legs or arms, no restraints on her person to be seen, the room was nice enough, and there was even a change of clothes for her at the foot of the bed. None of this spoke prisoner, more it spoke unknown. That was what Azula was wary of, that she did not understand. It was what made her wary of the madness, wary of herself, and wary of this new room. For the moment she decided to simply wait, seeing as there was nothing else to do. She glanced back down at the clothes near her bed, and then back at the ones she was currently wearing. The choice for that was simple.

Gingerly stepping of the bed, Azula picked up the small pile of clothes. It consisted of a plain cloth tunic, dyed red like most of the clothing in the fire nation, and a pair of loose pants. The pants were loose allowing for ease of movement, and colored a deep black with gold lining the top and bottom of it. In between the two was a long strip of leather, she assumed this was for fastening the pants so they did not slip. Quickly pulling off the ragged remnants of the prison uniform she began to dress herself in the new clothing. The sensation of having new clean clothing was, to Azula, beyond words. It was like being bound in soft clouds, so different than the constant scratch and pull of the prison wear.

Lying back down on the soft bed, Azula allowed herself to relax; if this was to be her new prison then she would have no problems with it. Staring at the ceiling the golden eyed woman went over the events she could recall from the previous… day? Night? Did it really matter at this point? Shaking her head Azula glanced at the door. It was vaguely transparent allowing for a person standing near it to be seen as well as the outside hallway. She wondered if someone had been watching her, it would make sense, they don't take prisoners out of their cells and then leave them to their own devices. Closing her eyes again Azula resolved, that with nothing else to do, sleep was the best option available. However her dreams seemed to disagree with her.

The nightmares, they were always the same ones, came to haunt her dreams again and again. Scenes of her, blackened and burned, lying in pools of her own blood while oily black shadows stood over her laughing. Then they shifted and became people, people that Azula knew. Her family, her friends they all stood over her, faces twisted and contorted into grotesque masks of hatred and laughter. Mocking her as she lay there dying, laughing at her inability to survive, at her weakness. Tonight was different though, despite everyone she had ever know or respected standing above her, one face stood out. Ty Lee, a mask of hatred, loathing and contempt on her beautiful face.

_'Can you ever be anything but a failure?' _She would say, but it was not in her own voices. Always they would speak in the same mocking, sarcastic tone of the madness.

_'Pathetic weakling, your life worthless, your victories pointless, all of it nothing.' _Laughing they would chant _'Worthless._' They would chant this again and again as Azula lay there in her blood, dying slowly, painfully.

The one who wore Ty Lee's face knelt down and whispered to her, voice dripping with hatred, _'How could I ever love someone as pathetic as you?' _

Golden eyes snapping open, Azula bolted upright, hand clutching at her chest, and breathe heaving. Her heart pounded against her chest, as if it were trying to flee from her body itself. A cold sweat had formed on her brow. Shakily wiping it away with her sleeve she attempted to calm her racing heart. As she came back to her senses, she glanced around the room. She saw that someone had come into the room as she had slept. For the ragged prison clothes had been removed and a small metal platter of food had been placed at the foot of the bed where the clothes once where. Moving off the bed, Azula glanced at the platter of food.

It was by all accounts nothing special. A simple meal of soft bread, a slice of soft yellow cheese, and a small apple, a clay pitcher of water accompanied it. Most would not be impressed by such a meal but to Azula she could not imagine a more delectable platter of food. Having been fed the mushy slop that was pushed through the slot of her cell, this was fit for kings. Sitting herself on the floor Azula quickly began to eat, first biting into the apple. The crisp taste and sweet juices almost made the former princess cry with delight. Closing her eyes Azula simply allowed herself to enjoy the meal. Enjoy something she had not had, and desperately wanted back. When Azula had finished she glanced back down at the platter and froze.

Her reflection, she had not seen in it so long. The face that greeted was not what she remembered. This face was gaunt, pale, and ragged. The high cheekbones and smooth skin that had marked her as royalty was not as it should be. Her bones were far too obvious, her skin to pale to be healthy, her hair a mess of black strands, oily and slick.

"I don't look like this." She muttered to herself, unable to take her eyes of those of the reflection, "this isn't me… this… this is the face of…"

_'Of a failure?'_

Azula stiffened. Not here, not now, in the cell it was fine, it couldn't take anything from here there. Here however, all of these things she had seen and experienced… NO! She wouldn't let it take anything from her.

_'Take from you? There is nothing to take! Look at yourself. A ragged shell of your former glory, a maggot in the body of a lord. No, there would be nothing for me to take, only improve. You think yourself in control? You think that you are master here? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! No, no, no, no, no. That is not how it will work. But for now I don't need to do anything, you'll destroy yourself in the end. All I have to do is pick up the pieces, and then I will have what is mine.'_

Azula squeezed her eyes shut, willing the voice to be gone, gone to the farthest corners of her mind. This was hers, not it's, and she would never let it take it. Not again.

_'That's right, push it all away, push the pain and the guilt away. Bury me deep inside; let me fester, LET ME ROT!' _It screamed, pain flaring in Azula head, making her cry out in pain and clutch her head.

The sudden noise of the door moving open jerked her from her pain. Quickly turning to see the face of the person who had invaded her solitude, the blood rushed from her face. Her heart began to beat very fast as fear overtook her. Why, why, why! Why her of all of them, why her!

"Hello Azula."

Azula had to fight to keep her voice from breaking as she spoke the words she had dreaded speaking for so very long.

"Hello Ty Lee."

**And that's that, for now anyway. If you enjoyed leave a comment, if you hated it leave a review saying what could be changed to make it better. Thank you for viewing and I will have the next chapter up when I can, Ciao!**

**Draconian Calocor**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh dear god ugh, I live! So yeah Draconian Cal here, for all of you wondering what the hell took me so long to bloody update well… DARK SOULS ATE MY LIFE! I swear I had meant to update so much sooner than this but I bought darks souls and well… life slipped away. Well that and I had food poisoning from some bad snitzle, however the important thing is I'm back and NEW CHAPPY yay! *clapping noises* For all you hoping that Ty Lee and Azula would have some sort drama filled moment, uhhhhh your gunna have to wait till next chapter so I can explain more stuff. I was kind of missing a way to connect the story so far to the plot, hence this and the next chapter. Anyway enough rambling!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Questions Unanswered **

Numb, the entire body unaware of everything. The mind not processing the outside stimuli, the body not reacting, everything simply felt dead to the world. That was had felt when Ty Lee fled from the room, how she still felt now. The guards had come in to escort her the minute the gray eyed girl had left the room. In a strange way Azula had felt a numb sense of pride that she still warranted a full escort force but that was overshadowed immediately by what had happened.

Her mind seemed to fixate on the events prior; similar to the way one fixates on a nightmare yet hopes to forget it as soon as possible. Yet it occupied her thoughts all the same, she simply could not bring herself to understand one simple thing.

'Why wouldn't she look me in the eyes?' This question ate at her very being.

'Am I really so appalling to her? Am I no longer worthy to even be looked at? Am I no longer human to her? Am I just a monster?'

The gold eyes for the briefest of moments felt a hot stinging before it was banished by sheer will. Azula knew the answer to her questions, she needed no one to tell her, she knew. She knew but refused to understand. Even as had descended from on high and let the dark consume her mind, she knew. Knew what it was she was becoming. Knew what she did, knew what she was.

'She looked at me like I was a monster because that's what I am, I am a monster.' Somewhere in the darkest, coldest corners of her mind she felt the oily black madness stir, just a little. It was smiling, she could tell.

Thinking back to it she shouldn't have been surprised by it at all. It was to be expected, it made sense. As soon as Azula had replied to Ty Lee the girl had averted her gaze as though someone had slapped her. Her normally gently smiling features were contorted with sadness and discomfort, and something that the former princess could not place. Azula had unsteadily gotten to her feet to see if she was alright, however the moment she stood Ty Lee had taken a few steps back, fear clear on her face. Without a further word and only one more scared glance at Azula the brunette had fled the room.

It was this that threatened to devour her; it was this that troubled the black haired woman so. That the one she had cared for the most had fled from her, had fled in fear. The only thing she had every placed any real emotion in, the only one she had ever truly trusted, was frightened of her. Yet she still had hope, vain, naïve hope that somehow it was not as it seemed and that she would one day still be able to be happy.

So wrapped in her thoughts that she did not even notice the guard in front of her had stopped until she collided with his armored chest plate. Rubbing her forehead to clear the pain she glanced up at him, for indeed he was almost a foot taller than she, and saw he was proffering a strip of pale white cloth. She took and shot the guard a quizzical eyebrow.

"The room we are taking you has large windows." His voice sounding like someone was beating a bass drum. "Normally this wouldn't be a concern, but it is the middle of the day."

Azula once again looked at him still slightly confused as to what he meant. The man then let out a small sigh of frustration.

"Where it over your eyes so the light doesn't blind you. " He said, clearly begging to lose any patience he might have had.

Nodding at the logic of the idea Azula quickly fastened the cloth over her eyes; it was thin enough to see with ease but no so thin as to offer no protection from light. Once she had it fastened to her liking they moved on to the sliding paper door ahead of them. This led them to a small yet well light room that resembled the royal meeting hall yet was smaller and not as richly furnished. It was most likely a council chamber for the lower ranking nobles and generals of the Fire Nation's army to discuss matter of importance. Apparently the matter of importance today was she.

She was grateful for the strip of cloth covering her eyes for the room was indeed bright, painfully so for herself. As she was led in the Guard who had given her the cloth, she assumed he was the captain, gestured at a number of cushions placed on the ground. Clearly saying she was to have a seat and wait for whoever it was wished to see her to arrive.

The captain gestured for his men to leave and they did so with a brisk solute before turning and leaving the room. The captain then took up a spot blocking the main door with his enormous frame. Azula with nothing else to do began to take stock of the man. Trained to fight as she was, she always took a measure of anyone who could be a potential threat, the small mountain blocking the door was sure to qualify as a threat to most anyone.

He was tall, with a well-trimmed goatee, dark black eyes with only the faintest of wrinkles begging to form on the edges, and sharp features that seemed to go well with his military garments. However his garments were what made her pause for a moment, for he wore the armor of an elite fire guard, the personal body guards of the Fire Lord himself. This brought the barest of smiles to Azula's lips, if she had to deal with people; at the very least, she understood how to deal with Zuko.

As the silence that had blanketed the room began to become smothering Azula turned her mind from her surroundings to a certain gray eyed acrobat that still made the gold eyed woman heart ache ever so slightly. Her she was again being haunted by Ty Lee, but Azula did not mind so much, it was a welcome change to the silence. However, soon her day dreams of Ty Lee's beauty turned instead to the events that had occurred no so long ago.

It still made her throat tighten at the memory of Ty Lee's fear. 'Then again it's not surprise she fears me, not after what I did. But… it still hurts…' she mused rather mournfully. 'It may hurt but at the very least, it isn't my entire fault, you dragged me down and made me do those things as well, I lost her. I lost her because of you!' she thought angrily.

She directed this particular train of thought at the oily black still slithering through her mind. It was one of the rare times she attempted to provoke it, tried to get a response from it. She needed an enemy at the moment, something to blame, something to hate, something to push all of her anger and hurt at. If not the demon in her mind, then what else?

What she was expecting from it was perhaps an angry snarl of sorts, a shot at her failure, a blow about her inability, perhaps something even as simple as a growl. Anything she could use to further justify her loathing of it. What she received though was not a growl, an insult, even snide remark, no instead she received something she had never received from it, was a question, a legitimate question. Not a mocking question that would only serve to make her ever more hopeless, but a question born of curiosity.

'_Let me ask you something princess… why do you keep lying to yourself?'_

The question was simply stated, the voice lacking all of its usual arrogance and loathing. It was not snide, not angry, not sarcastic, and it wasn't insane, it sounded almost rational. This was what startled Azula. On the outside she maintained her calm composure, but internally her mind was reeling. Not once in all the seemingly infinite amount of time she had been locked in that prison of dark and stone had it ever posed a question. Azula did not know how to react her mind had simply frozen.

All she could do was to respond wordlessly 'What do you mean?'

She could practically feel it smirking as it replied _'Well if you don't know then I don't think it would be a good idea to spoil the surprise, after all, that the best thing about a surprise, the surprise!'_ With that it fell silent.

Azula barley had time to compose her now scattered mind when the sound of the door sliding open jerked her from the realm of her mind into reality. A smirk that had been so long absent from her face made a rare appearance as Azula's golden eyes observed the figure in the doorway.

"Well if it isn't Zuzu, happy to see your dear sister again?"

Fire Lord Zuko did not look pleased.

**So yeah that was this chapter, things will begin to really pick up next chapter so don't worry if you think this is far too dull it does get better I promise. If you enjoyed R&R, if you hated leave CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Thanks! Until then CIOA! **


	4. update message

**Hello! Just a quick note on why I havnt updated in so terribly long. The reason is… well my computer sorta broke, and I don't have another one to use, it hasn't affected my terribly much but it has made It nearly impossible to write anything. I am not writing anything on any computer that isn't mine, mainly because my family is full of religious republicans, so basically they don't approve of what I am writing about. I don't care though, anyway enough digressing; I have managed to get my laptop working again so I will hopefully be able to start writing again very soon. Until that happens this explanation will have to do. **

**As soon as I have managed to update I will take this down so no worries. **

**Draconian Calocor**


	5. Chapter 4

**Well it has been a while hasn't it, I got no real excuse for why it has taken me so long to update other than, writers block, jumping out of a plane, breaking my hand, getting surgery, going on vacation, golfing, fishing, and playing lots of video games… so yeah NEW CHAPTER YEE HAW! Im not entirely happy with this chapter, mainly due to zuko being an ass to portray correctly, and still get my point across, so to me it feels a little off, but hell what ya gunna do?**

**Shout out to-( **helljumper41, Sgt. Mehoff, lily938, Dbananad, fandorsoul, yuridodero, ZeeMonster, .Loba, choasrin, Dark Twili Dragon, Fluent, ArchAngle-Wolf, callmeluci, yorunes, ChiMeko123, OddWolfLife, FurFurFanga, tayr98, TheAnimeGeek21, and Irohllgirl,**) for all the fallows and favs that you guys gave me, it means the world that you guys like it. **

**Special thanks to-(** modman33, tb7753, interesting1, CelloDude8432, Amakatsu, TheOstrichLord, and Revengest**) for all the awesome feedback that you guys gave, I lurv all u. **

**Song that finally got me off my ass and made me write this chapter- Don McLean- American Pie**

**Without further ado, enjoy chapter 4.**

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There is something about silence that can be both a comfort and a joy, yet it is also at times disconcerting and nerve racking. For Azula silence had never really been a factor in the way she went about her life, the time in the cell had made certain of that; but there was something about this silence that irked her. Perhaps it was the fact that her brother was sitting in front of her, staring her down like a bird of prey stares at its soon to be prey. Perhaps it was the migraine that was threatening to split her skull open at a moment's notice, or maybe the golden eyed woman was simply sick of silence. Headless of the potential consequences the black haired princess cleared her throat and spoke, "While this little staring contest is wonderful, I'm certain that there is a better reason for me to be here."

Zuko seemed to think a moment before answering, "Yes there is a reason you are here, a rather good one as it were." His tone neutral, face unreadable.

Azula raised an eyebrow but allowed him to continue, more interested in an answer than interrupting him, regardless of how amusing that may be. "You are here for… Rehabilitation." Zuko continued, seeming to choose his words carefully.

The former princess scoffed, but before she could retort Zuko continued, "It is either that, or you face execution for your war crimes." At this two golden eyes fixed upon Zuko, all traces of arrogance forgotten.

Azula watched as Zuko let a small smile play across his face, she wanted nothing more than to wipe it off as painfully as she could, but now was not the time to be entertaining these thoughts. _"Zuko isn't the type to go and kill people for no reason, he was always to spineless to finish what he started, someone else is pushing for this, someone with influence." _The black haired princess reasoned.

"Go on." She muttered. Zuko began speaking at once, it was clear to Azula that he saw that he was the victor for the moment in their unspoken contest, "A congregation of nobles and military officials believe that all remnants of the old Fire Nation need to be cleansed to show the other nations that we are indeed committed to change."

"Get to the point Zuzu." Azula growled, growing impatient.

"Hmm, looks like some things never change," Zuko grunted before continuing. "The point is, either you prove to me and a select group of others that you have indeed regained full control of yourself, or… well at that point I will have no choice but to call for a public execution. That, and I have another problem that we have to deal with, and by we, I do me you and I. You see along with this call for your execution, there have also been a multitude of attempts on my life over the past several months."

A Black eyebrow rose above a golden eye. "These attempts, while nothing new, were different than the usual attempts made against any ruling faction, these were not only professional in nature but I also familiar. I know who attempted to execute them. Our fathers network of spies and assassins, the Black Flame." Zuko stopped for a moment and Azual saw he was attempting to decide what to say next, most likely wondering how much was safe to tell her.

"_Smart." _She thought glancing out the window at the sight that lay beyond it. Squinting past the cloth in her, still slightly painful, eyes She looked out and saw the deep green of the royal gardens, with the twinkle of a waterfall onto a small pool in the middle of all the blooming plants. Some part of her realized that it must be spring, for the flowers were blooming, but more than anything she relished the colors, the rich greens, the reds, and the blues, orange, purple, gold, and white. All these things struck her, even though her cloth covered eyes she recognized these colors, after so long of black and nothingness they were entrancing to behold.

After several more moments of gazing out the large windows, Azula turned her attention once more to her brother.

"I am not entirely certain as to why they are trying to kill me but my guess is that they are under the control of one the nobles or generals who want you killed as well. They then will attempt a coup to gain control of the nation while it is still attempting to recover, or at least in theory." Zuko stated. "Your role in this is to not only prove yourself but to bait whoever is attempting this in to showing their hand."

The former princess allowed herself a few moments to let all the information to sink in, and perhaps gain a grasp on her situation. _"So many things have happened while I was gone, yet… how long have I been gone?_

Zuko however continued to press on, "Despite the past few years we-"

Azula felt her entire body stiffen, words echoing in her mind. Years, it had been years, locked in the dark for… years. Golden eyes flicked down at her hands as she felt warmth trickling down them, fresh blood dripped from her palms were she had unconsciously dug her nails into the flesh of her palm until blood freely dripped down her fingers. The deep crimson against the pale skin of her hand, the sun's rays glinting of the blood like small crimson gemstones, it was almost hypnotic in a way. Zuko fell silent when he noticed this.

"Exactly," Azula's voice deadly calm, "how long was I in that cell?" she asked, eyes never leaving the dripping crimson.

"Two, almost three years." Zuko replied, shifting were he sat, suddenly slightly uncomfortable in the brightly lit room.

"That long." Azual whispered to herself. _"That's how long I have been trapped in that dark little hell." _The golden eyed princess mulled that through her thoughts for a moment before she began to laugh, a hard echoing laugh. "Hahahah AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

**"It is rather funny isn't it. Heheh, funny. What's even funnier is that you let it happen, haha, YOU! You worthless maggot, HAHAHA you let this happen to you, HAHA, and why you ask? Because you let yourself get betrayed, HAHAHA YOU LET IT HAPPEN! Now that's funny AHAHAHAHAHA!"**

"NO!" Azula screamed, not caring who heard her. "It wasn't my fault! She was supposed to be my everything, and she said that she would always be there for me! She lied to me, it wasn't my fault! She made me lose everything, ALL OF IT!"

Leaping to her feet, Azula searched for escape, anywhere that it couldn't do harm. However as her eyes locked on the large windows, she could see a shadow swimming in the reflection of the glass. As she watched with mounting horror the shadow pressed itself against the glass. It surrounded her reflection and covered it, replacing her with nothing but an oily black outline. A horrific smile emerged, all teeth gnashing and mashing, it grinned at her.

She could vaguely hear the voices of Zuko, and the guard captain calling her, however she was transfixed on the apparition in front of her. Even when a she felt a hand on her shoulder she could not look away.

**"Such a good little liar you are!" **she heard the voice cry gleefully.** "Able to lie to yourself so well, it's almost sad, if it weren't so damned pathetic. How did he ever think you would be able to rule over it all? Then again all you wanted to rule was her, now isn't that right? You were willing to give up all that power, for what? AN ACROBATIC WHORE?! NOW GIVE IT BACK! GIVEITBACK! GIVEITBACKGIVEITBACKGIVEITBACKGIVEITBACK! GIVE IT BACK YOU WEAK PATHETIC THEIF!"** The voice screamed in her head.

A splitting pain erupted in her head as she ripped herself out of the grip holding her, falling to the ground, tears leaking out of her eyes even as she screwed them shut. "NO!" Azula sobbed, "no no no no no no no, not weak, not weak."

In some distant corner of her mind she could sense people standing over her, someone yelling for help, then blissful darkness, sweet, comforting darkness.

* * *

Grey eyes snapped opened in the darkness, sitting up in the blackness the brunette breathed heavily as her heart slowed its frantic pounding. Ty Lee glanced warily around the small bedroom of the house she used when visiting the capital of the Fire Nation. The room had not changed since the last time she had awaked in a feverish sweat, hear wildly pounding. The same windows overlooking the city, moonlight gently lighting the room, the same dresser, same vanity, same everything.

Standing shakily, Ty Lee moved to the night stand next to the bed for the pitcher of water she had placed on it in anticipation of another restless night. Taking the clay pitcher, she raised it to her lips and drank greedily, savoring the cool taste of the water on her parched throat. Yet even with her thirst slacked, the thing that had awoken the young women from her slumber still haunted her mind, those piercing gold eyes so lost and fearful, silky hair turned to oily strands, smooth skin turned almost transparent.

"_And it's all my fault."_ Ty lee thought with guilt welling up inside of her. _"No! Get ahold of yourself, you did what had to be done; she would have ended up killing herself the way she was going!" _Yet Ty Lee could not forget the Azula she had seen, the broken and scared women she saw still left her near tears. _"Perhaps she would have been better off dead than what I put her through." _

Letting out a tired sigh, the brunette resolved to attempt to at least go back to her bed and get a few hours of sleep. Climbing back into the soft folds of her bed and closed her eyes, she was about to drift back off when a pair of thin arms fastened themselves around her waist and pulled her close a soft, warm body next to her.

"Something wrong?" a soft, sleepy voice next to her asked.

With a small smile Ty lee shook her head and glanced over at the girl lying next to her, "Nothing's wrong Yumi, just a bad dream, go back to sleep."

Silken black hair draped over her, and light blue eyes looked down at her, from soft angular features, "You sure, I'm here if you need me." Yumi said, sleep still clinging to her voice.

Ty Lee simply smiled, leaned over giving a light kiss to ease the girl's worries, "I'm sure, now go to sleep, ok?" The blue eyed girl nodded before burying her head in Ty Lee hair and sighing, "Good night." Yumi murmured. Ty Lee's only response was a light nod in return.

Grey eyes stared at the ceiling, despite the wishes of a good night, Ty Lee was certain she was not going to have a good night, perhaps for quite some time.

**That's where I end this chapter you say? Why yes, yes it is. Why you ask? Because I'm evil. If you liked, leave a comment, a fav, or a fallow, if not thanks for reading it anyway, that's it for now, Draconian Calocor out!**


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